Snow plows are usually provided with skid shoes that are mounted upon the lower, rear portions of the plow moldboards for supporting and guiding the plow blade ground engaging edge upon or slightly above the ground. One type of skid shoe involves an approximately horizontally arranged skid plate which slides upon the ground and which may have wear resistant, ground engaging surface. The plate is part of a skid shoe construction which includes brackets for bolting the plate to the moldboard of the plow in a way that aligns the ground engaging surface with the lower, ground engaging edge of the plow blade which is also bolted to the moldboard. An example of this type of skid shoe construction is illustrated in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,528 issued Aug. 31, 1982.
Because the ground engaging edges of plow blades wear out or become damaged, they may be replaced from time to time. Likewise, skid shoes also may become damaged or too worn for further use and must be replaced. Replacing a skid shoe with a new shoe in such a way as to provide good, leveled alignment between the ground engaging face of the shoe and the ground engaging edge of the plate is difficult. There are slight differences in the alignment, shapes and sizes of blades, moldboards and skid shoe locations from one plow to another, particularly after the plow has been used for some while. Thus, it is desirable to have a skid shoe construction which is adjustable to the particular plow upon which it is mounted in order to obtain the best possible alignment.
My prior U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 422,800, filed Sept. 24, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,635 discloses a level adjustable skid shoe and a method for leveling the shoe which, in general, involves fastening a mounting bracket to the moldboard, with the skid shoe plate hingedly connected to the bracket. Thereafter, the plow blade is moved into ground engagement position which moves the skid plate into substantial alignment therewith. At that point the skid shoe and bracket are permanently fastened together by welding.
While the foregoing form of adjustable skid shoe is generally satisfactory, at times further adjustment may be desirable or needed in order to get good surface to surface contact of the entire bearing surface of the skid shoe against the ground. That is, in some instances, the vertical location of the bracket is such that the skid shoe ground engaging surface may be angled slightly upwardly or downwardly so that it does not fully engage the ground. This results in uneven wear.
Thus, the invention herein is concerned with providing a skid shoe in the form of kit-like parts which may be assembled to a specific moldboard of a plow. Initially, the skid plate is substantially freely, manually adjustable in all directions to assure even surface to surface engagement with the ground and good alignment with the plow blade.